Improvement in heating feed-water apparatus for locomotives



UNITED STATES PETER S. EBBERT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

`IMPROVEMENT IN HEATING FEED-WATER APPARATUS FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 14,187, dated February5, 1856.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PETER S. EBBERT, of the city of Chicago, in thecounty of Cook and State ot' Illinois, have invented a new and usefulMethod of Heating the Feed-Tater of Locomotive-Engines, the object ofwhich is the saving of fuel in producing the required amount of steamfor propelling purposes; and I do hereby declare tha-t the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, inwhich- Figure l is a plan of atransverse section of a smoke-pipe,showing the saddle S whereon the smoke-pipe sets, (represented by l.) 2is the inside pipe of the smoke-pipe. 3 is a continuous pipe placedwithin the inside pipe of the smoke-pipe.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of a smoke-pipe and smoke-box, showing thesteam-pipe l, the exhaust-pipes 2 2, and also the inside pipe or chimneyofthe smoke-pipe 3, inclosed in which is the continuous pipe a 4 4 4 44.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the smokepipe and front part of theboiler, also the connections with the heater, together' with the pumpand check-valve, whereon l represents The pipe form-ingaconnection withthe pump 2, and the heater at 3. 4shows the dischargepipe from theheater, the connection being at 5, and passing into the boilerthroughpthe check-valve 6. 7 represents a branch of the Dipe 4, having ajunction at 9, and also a connection with the top of the check-valve 6,or any part of the boiler (that fancy or the necessity of the case maydictate) which may be used at pleasure as a return supply-pipe for thepurpose of keeping the heater full should it at any time be deemednecessary or desirable in consequence of the engine standing still orotherwise, the valve being regulated by the wheel or cock 8.

The difficulty with heaters as heretofore applied to locomotives, andwhich has been the main cause of their disuse, arose from theimpossibility ot' keeping the pipes or water-chambers tight, owing tothe extreme differences of expansion and contraction at the top andbottom, or between the inlet of the cold and the exit of the hot water,the variation of temperature in extreme cold Weather being nearly 200obetween these points. By

the use of the pipe-couplings which I have adopted, which merely unitethe tops and bottoms ofthe two adjoining pipes, however much thevariation of temperature it cannot affect but two pipes of the series,and even then the pipes by the additional heat can expand lenthwisewithoutopening any joints, for they have none in reality to open. So, onthe other hand, the pipes may contract lengthwise without doing anydamage whatever, for the couplings, pipes, and all merely shorten,without affecting any joint whatever. Thus the pipes on one side of thestack may contract by the introduction of the cold water, while those onthe opposite side may be elongated by expansion without in the leastaffecting each other or causing any leak. Itis admitted that suchpipe-couplings as I use of themselves are not new; but their applicationto my special purpose and as arranged by me has made a heretoforeimpracticable, though a very desirable thing, perfectly practical andhighly useful, as the late extremely cold Weather has proven.

What I claim as ot my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The auxiliary pipe 7, as arranged in relation to that part of the mainpipe containing the valve, so that a communication may exist between thewaterspace ot' the boiler and the interior of the feed-Water pipes inthe smokestack when the feed-pump is not in operation, as herein setforth.

PETER S. EBBERT. Attest:

W. S. BROWN, E. R. BROWN.

